Chili - The Threads

(This is not the version I make now, but it's pretty good. It's very similar to what you'd get using a Wick Fowler's Two-Alarm Chili kit (Sally, did you ever make chili from the kit I brought you?), and his [secret, of course] recipe won prizes at Terlingua in the early days of that famed cook-off.)

Texan's Chili
Printer version of this recipe

2 pounds chopped or coarsely ground beef
1 tsp salt
6 tbs chili powder (I prefer Gebhardt's)
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tbs (heaping) ground cumin
1 tsp paprika
3 tbs masa harina
1 tbs onion flakes
1 8-oz can tomato sauce

1. Fry meat until it is pinkish-gray (not brown). Skim.
2. Add next 5 ingredients, mix thoroughly.
Cook 30 minutes. Skim.
3. Add onion flakes, tomato sauce, equal amount of water.
Cook 2 to 3 hours, skimming occasionally.
4. About 30 minutes before serving, mix masa flour with enough water to make thin paste;
stir into chili after final SKIM.

This makes a thick (not soupy) chili which is not hot by Texas standards.
Those who worry about too much spice could omit the cayenne which IMO adds heat
but does little for the flavor. Those who want a hotter chili can double or even
triple the cayenne--but contrary to what some contestants apparently think,
chili is not about heat but about flavor.

If you like (and I do like) you can serve this with pinto beans.
Or even ON pinto beans. What you must not do is cook the beans in the chili.

ObjAng: Multiplied many times, this has been served at fund-raisers with mix and match
accompaniments such as beans, rice, grated cheese, chopped onion, guacamole, tortillas,
tortilla chips, saltines, and even sour cream. Hey, we're only purists about the chili
in the pot; what people do with it is their business.